meet paul adams

---

Paul Adams has worked with independent grocers almost his entire career. His first experience was working in his grandfather’s general store in Southwest City, Missouri when he was a high school student.

Over the years he served as a store director for both conventional and price impact stores in a large family-owned regional chain in Kansas City. 

In 1982 he began working at the former Fleming Company calling on and assisting retailers in the role of “sales-service representative”. That was the first of several roles and responsibilities he had in the company including: Regional Retail Trainer, Regional Director of Franchised Stores [which included Food 4 Less and Checkers], Corporate Director of Retail and Sales Training, which included having responsibility for Fleming’s Retail Learning Center. Another responsibility in this role was being in charge the company’s Retail Account Executive program.

Paul began his own business in 2002, “Paul Adams & Associates”. Since then, he has conducted retail training programs for independent retailers, has worked with several food distributors and with some businesses not involved in food retailing as well as some international companies. Besides retail training programs, he has presented several workshops on sales training and negotiating skills.

He has had the privilege of working with the National Grocers Association [NGA] and serves as facilitator for its two Human Resources Share Groups and is often involved in planning workshops for the organization’s annual Show. One responsibility he had with the NGA was to serve as the facilitator of its “Entrepreneurial Institute” a succession planning program for independent retailers.

Paul has served as a faculty member of the Portland State University’s “Today’s Managers and Tomorrow’s leaders’ program. Besides his work at Portland State, he has been a guest instructor for courses involving retail operations for the University of Alabama School of Business, the University of Oklahoma School of Business, Central Oklahoma University and Louisiana State University.

He is a graduate of William Jewell College with a BA degree and secured a master’s degree at the University of Kansas, where he completed significant additional graduate work. He has studied also at Drew University, Madison, NJ.

Paul resides in Olathe, Kansas.